Demo

I decided to do a demo of my latest painting, so I took pictures at random intervals while painting. Far too many people have asked me to do this, so here it is.

(click the image to see a larger version)



This is really rough, normally I don't think so much about the actual process I just start doing what I always do, which would be...

1. Start with a SIMPLE drawing (no eye balls, nostrils, fingers, toes, etc, etc.) and block in your darks. The darks should be done first so they are thiner and have a more transparent quality. (They will also be less muddy this way.) I don't ever use white in the darks, you end up with non-transparent darks and mud.

2. With a large brush add some of the back round mainly around the figure so it ends up thicker than the rest of the back round, that adds interest to the area you want people to look at most (in this case the girls face) Don't blend! ever!

3. Add the middle tones and more of the back round. Keep it simple and blocky, don't blend at all, just keep the values close and its will look softer. The middle tones will almost always have more color in them than any other place, because the lights are bleached and the darks absorb light (no light, no color.)

4. Work on the edges and lighter middle tones. You should always be working on edges but its easier after you have more paint on the canvas. Keep it simple, don't blend!!! You should still have blocky obvious transitions at this point.

5. I have added some lighter tones to make sure my values are correct, not every one will tell you to do this mainly because your more likely to get muddy lights areas. I also added the few "pure" black spots. More back round work, edges. At this point you can start to use smaller brushes, keep its big as long as possible, its easier to make corrections and see mistakes.

6. The rest of the middle tones, edges, back round, the middle tones of areas like the eyes and under the nose.

7. Finally, add the last touches like the darks around and in the eyes, more middle finishing tones, and unresolved edges. This is also when I normally add any sharp edges around the main area of interest.

(If you still want to see a bigger version I can email you the original photo, but be warned its huge and may take a while to download depending on the speed of your internet.)
My email is Soirsce@gmail.com